A Widening Toll on Jobs: 'This Thing Is Going to Come for Us All'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The tendrils of the coronavirus pandemic reached deeper into the American economy last week, leaving millions more people out of work as the damage spread to jobs and industries that were spared at the outset of the crisis.

More than 6.6 million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, setting a grim record for the second straight week.

The latest claims brought the two-week total to nearly 10 million.

The speed and scale of the job losses are without precedent. Until last month, the worst week for unemployment filings was 695,000 in 1982. By shuttering businesses and forcing vast layoffs, the coronavirus outbreak has in two weeks wiped out more jobs than the worst months of the last recession.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/a-widening-toll-on-jobs-this-thing-is-going-to-come-for-us-all/ar-BB124EbL?li=BBnbfcN

I'm told this is on the level of the 2008 recession.

[dhol82]

1. Bwahahahahaha!

The 2008 recession is bupkis in relation to the shit show that is happening now.

[Ace Rothstein]

13. Why is this funny?

[Calculating]

20. Right?

What's funny about people losing all their hard earned money that they have invested in stocks/401ks/etc? Their small businesses and homes? Their jobs and financial security that they've worked for? I want Trump to lose as much as the next sane person, but I'm not gonna root for the great depression 2.0 in order for that to happen.

[Ace Rothstein]

23. There have been some really disturbing posts and threads here the last few weeks.

[dhol82]

29. It's called irony

Did you read the rest of what I wrote?

[BigmanPigman]

2. This is worse than 2008.

This morning CNN said when it is really hitting us hard it will be equal to the Great Depression when unemployment reached a high of 19%.

[Indykatie]

5. This Will Definitely Be Worse Than 2008

The company I'm most familiar with Cummins is shutting down all its US plants. Salaried professionals are taking a 15% to 30% reduction in pay with the CEO taking 50% and Directors taking 40%. There will also be additional job cuts following the 2000 cuts the company made before CV-19 became an issue. We're all hopeful this may only last 60 - 90 days but that's probably being overly optimistic.

[ffr]

11. I was convinced it was too, until I saw this graphic

Then my jaw hit the floor. Jobless claims going back something like to the mid-1960s. You have to play the animation to appreciate the full gravity.

Link to tweet

[BigmanPigman]

18. This gives new meaning to the phrase,

"Off the charts". I saw the chart earlier this week when listening to Robert Reich.

We need to have a free healthcare for all Americans throughout this pandemic. Also, wages need to be frozen and everyone guaranteed their same job when they return to work. In the meantime, we need to do what Europe is doing and provide for everyone (rent, utilities, food, etc) now.

[Hoyt]

3. Even healthcare workers are being furloughed. Farmers are pouring out milk.

[Volaris]

7. What is the reasoning to send home healthcare workers?

Feel free to talk me down here, because while I do not have a degree in economics...that seems a rather boneheaded thing to do DURING A FUCKING NATIONAL HEALTHCARE CRISIS.

[Igel]

8. Think about all the things under "healthcare."

A lot of it is elective. Much requires one-on-one assistance and can wait.

And most of it shares space with COVID these days. Meaning you're putting sick and uninfected people in the same space as those infected.

I'm due for an endocrinologist appt. in a month or so. I'm going to bet that instead of saying for me to go in, have the labwork done, then a week later sit in her practice's waiting room full of other people and then be seen by her she'll just say, "Here's a refill, come back in 3 months." Whatever it is isn't worth risking infection with COVD, esp. when it'll be peaking just about then in my neck of the woods.

[Volaris]

10. Fair enough argument, and an acceptable form of 'triage', if you will.

But. The nurse that works your GenPrac's office has the same basic nursing skillset as the ones that are short staffed at all the hospitals, so why not find some way for them to go to work being useful; ONLY ARGUMENT AGAINST, that I can see is the following: 'if you dont need to be here, stay home and at least dont get yourself sick', but again, not sure if that mitigation outweighs the need for skilled and willing healthcare workers.

I suppose that would have to be decided at the local and institutional level (and fair enough I guess), but this strikes me as an 'all hands on deck' situation, and we will FIND something useful for you to do for the duration of the crisis.

[Hoyt]

14. While CV19 is in news, a big chunk of medical care is languishing. Many Medical practices are closed

if just temporarily, or have cut back hours. Big labs are furloughing folks because people just aren't going to their docs as usual.

In fact, a lot of medical practices won't even take you with CV19 symptoms if you find one open.

[Volaris]

17. That's understandable, but those people are still useful.

The person who has a healthcare background and answers the phone at the local clinic can do the same damn thing at a hospital nurses station, so that nurse can go and be more effective for their patients.
And if left uncared for, issues that would otherwise get taken care of by those local clinics, will later require visits to the ER, putting further strain on the overall system.

[Hoyt]

19. Vast majority of hospitals aren't overrun. If needed, a hospital could move

nurses or doctors from other specialities like cosmetic surgery, chronic orthopedics, X-ray, ophthalmology, PT, etc. Lots of things can be put off for weeks, especially if fear of infection is a factor.

[Volaris]

21. Ok you all talked me down. Good job!! :)

[FreeState]

12. I work in healthcare - 10% pay cut starting tomorrow

After working nearly 400 hours in the last month. I don’t blame the company I work for, they are trying to stay afloat. I fear in three months time we will be in a bad place financially even for those that still have jobs.

I’d add I’m one of the lucky ones. Many of our salary employees are being moved to hourly and there is less than half of the workload we had a month ago. I feel really bad for many of our workers and the clients we serve.

[Hoyt]

15. Thank you for the post and attitude. A number of big health systems have cut pay 20% across board.

Good luck.

[Demovictory9]

4. a furloughed restaurant employee can't pay their rent: prop taxes not paid, apt managing employees

gardeners may get laid off. They can't pay THEIR rent. and out go the ripples

[Ace Rothstein]

6. Which is why the lockdowns won't go on until there is a vaccine.

Trump was right about not letting the cure be worse than the disease, he was just an idiot for saying it when he did.

[Igel]

9. Word is precisely that.

At high-level meetings between governments, that's what's acknowledged. But you don't tell a panicked populace that.

In the end, even those whose jobs can be done by home rely on a lot of people spending money. If half the population doesn't have income, that's half the tax base (or more), either from their taxes, income taxes, or corporate taxes.

Government employees will have to be furloughed; remaining industries won't be able to keep their staff as they cut production. It'll look like a depression as everything winds down.

The option of just sending out money means either the government borrows a lot or eats into what's stored somewhere. It sounds great, "The rich have $30 trillion, take it"--but it's not cash. It's assets, often liquid. If you want to sell 10 skyscrapers in NYC while taxing the people who'd buy them, nobody'll have money to buy them at list price. Suddenly they're not worth what they were. Same for stock. Other land. Anything, really--the government collects 10% of it and tries to sell it, it'll be the very rich who would be buying it ... but they're the ones taking a haircut, so they won't be buying. Assets will depreciate and whoever has cash will buy things up for pennies on the dollar.

That $30 trillion (or whatever it currently is) won't be worth $30 trillion. Government'll chew through capital. Then there won't be capital for getting things started again.

Or the government can just borrow. At some point the interest rate goes up. We pay 8.7% of the federal budget for interest now. A year of having the government continue to borrow to keep things afloat, and we're Greece from 7 years ago. Or, worse, since all governments are doing it there's nobody liquid enough to actually buy the bonds. Then what?

That would leave we just printing the money. But then we're Venezuela. Some people like that--some government folk are well off, but inequality is at a low because everybody's improverished.

[Hoyt]

16. We are not close to reopening, but glad to finally see some rational posts.

Will probably be "closed" at least another 1.5 months. At some point, they'll loosen up.

Once they can start testing people for antibodies, it will change a bunch. If I showed antibodies, I'd ask for a big raise to come back to work.

[roamer65]

24. If I show antibodies, I'll give plasma.

[Hoyt]

25. +1.

[roamer65]

26. I really think I had this bug in early January.

I’d love to have antibody test to find out.

[Hoyt]

27. I'm hoping I've had it, but more likely allergies. A widely available

antibody test would be a game changer, or close to it.

I can see it as part of annual physicals for years (guess I’ll have to go to doc).

[roamer65]

28. The dry cough I had for a solid 3 weeks is usually indicative of viral pneumonia.

Plus I had to look up an old inhaler.

That’s what makes me really wonder.

I think this bug hopped a plane and flew over in December.

[Calculating]

22. Exactly

Eventually they will start sending people back to work (with proper precautions such as masks and a public awareness campaign). Keeping things locked down all the way until we have a vaccine make the great depression look like child's play.